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The Slaver Weapon (episode)
A group of Kzinti divert the shuttle Copernicus and retrieve a newly discovered Slaver weapon. Summary :First Officer's Log: Stardate 4187.3. The ''Enterprise shuttlecraft Copernicus is en route to Starbase 2-5 with an important cargo, a Slaver stasis box discovered by archaeologists on the planet Kzin. These stasis boxes are the most remarkable thing the Slavers ever produced — time stands still inside a stasis box. A billion years means nothing in there.'' The boxes were used to carry valuables, scientific instruments, weapons and data. When the ship passes Beta Lyrae the stasis box glows, indicating a second box is hidden in that system. Spock remarks, "Stasis boxes and their content are the only remnant of the species which ruled most of this galaxy a billion years ago. Their effect on science has been incalculable. In one was found a flying belt which was the key to the artificial gravity field used by starships. Another box contained a disruptor bomb with the pin pulled. As a result all stasis boxes are now under the jurisdiction of Starfleet and only certain key specialists handle them. The boxes are rare, potentially dangerous, and we seem to have found a second one." The shuttle lands on an ice planet where hostile Kzinti lie in ambush with an empty stasis box. The team are captured in a police web by a group of Kzinti and taken aboard their vessel. The Kzinti race once controlled the entire empire but now is bound to keep peace. Spock tells the others that the lean, bedraggled one is a mind-reader. He tells Sulu, "They won't read my mind because Vulcans are herbivorous pacifists and Uhura a mere female. The Kzinti are meat eaters and if he senses one trying to read his mind to think of eating raw vegetables." Spock advises Uhura to try to look harmless because Kzinti females are dumb animals. In an emergency they may forget a human female is an intelligent creature giving them a chance to escape. Their captors are lead by Chuft Captain who commands the Traitor's Claw. Their archeologists found an empty box but it was a good way to draw them there. Many Kzinti still take part in raiding Federation shipping and seek Slaver weapons to regain control of their empire. In the opened box they find a picture of a Slaver, some fresh meat, and a weapon created by the Slavers. :First Officer's Log: Supplemental. The Kzinti now possess a weapon potentially deadly to the entire galaxy. The extent of its power remains to be seen. The Kzinti return to the surface to test the weapon. They run through settings inferior to present technology. One setting disengages the police web, giving the team a chance to flee and get back the weapon but Uhura is recaptured. Sulu thinks a spy owned the weapon. Spock agrees, therefore, it also has a self-destruct setting. When he explores other settings on the weapon he finds a null setting. The Chuft Captain hails them wanting to trade Uhura's life for the weapon. He also wants to do combat with Spock to save face. Sulu refuses for him. As Spock tries another setting the weapon sets free a giant energy beam creating a huge explosion far away, a huge mushroom cloud and fallout, knocking Sulu and Spock off their feet. Sulu exclaims, "We can't give them THAT!" Spock then says, "No world in the Federation has produced anything so powerful. Almost beyond theoretical limits. Total conversion of matter to energy at a distance." Sulu remarks, "If the Kzinti had that, the whole galaxy would be their dinner table." The Kziniti retake the weapon and put it on its "reasoning computer" mode, a remarkable achievement for handheld equipment. It gives scant details of its origin and abilities, alluding to long ago war. Spock realizes it has a different appearance now. The weapon says unless it is supplied with "certain code words" it will answer no further questions. Awakened after an indeterminate time and surrounded by beings that do not know its proper interaction protocols it has decided to self-destruct to keep vital tactical information from falling into long extinct enemy hands. At Spock's behest the Enterprise crew flees. The Kzinti aren't interested in them, fascinated by their new toy. The Slaver weapon detonates, killing the Kziniti in a massive explosion. Memorable Quotes "We have the female prisoner as hostage. You have something we want. We will trade her life for the slaver weapon." : - Chuft Captain "I compute the odds of my defeating Chuft Captain in combat at sixteen to one against." "Offer refused." "They think very little of you." "Wrong, they don't think much of YOU." : - Spock, Sulu, Chuft Captain, and Uhura "The Kziniti have legends of weapons haunted by their owners." "Could it be a voice activated mechanism." "No. It appears to be conversing with them. A reasoning computer that small!" : - Spock and Uhura "How long has it been since you were turned off?" "I do not know. When I am off I have no sense of passing time." "What is the last thing you remember?" "We were on a mission. I may not tell you of it unless you know certain code words." : - Chuft Captain and The Slaver Weapon Background Information *This episode was based on Larry Niven’s SF (not Star Trek) short story "The Soft Weapon", which was published in 1967. The characters in the original story were Jason Papandreou (changed to Lt. Sulu for the episode), Jason's wife Anne-Marie (changed to Lt. Uhura for the episode), and the Pierson's Puppeteer Nessus, a manic-depressive member of a race of pacifistic herbivores (changed to Spock for the episode). *The pink uniforms for the Kzinti came to be because the director, Hal Sutherland has a kind of color blindness. Usually, the art department would revise his color schemes, but the animators received his original instructions and gave the Kzinti pink uniforms. *William Shatner (Kirk), DeForest Kelley (McCoy) and James Doohan (Scotty) do not appear in this episode. Between Star Trek: The Original Series, Star Trek: The Animated Series and the first seven Star Trek Movies, this is the only time after the character of James T. Kirk was first introduced that he does not appear. He also did not appear in the first Star Trek: The Original Series pilot, "The Cage". *Although Captain Kirk's character does not appear in this episode, we do see his face, as it was used for Sulu in several shots. *The events of the "Slaver Weapon" would be referenced, and the Kzinti themselves return, in the ''Star Trek'' comic strip story arc "The Wristwatch Plantation". *The Slaver species is not named in the animated episode, in Niven's Known Space Universe they are called Thrint. Also the other Kzinti don't receive a name here, in the original short story the crew consisted (beside Chuft Captain and Telepath) of Flyer who later carries Telepath, and Slaverstudent who opens the box. Links and References Main Cast * Leonard Nimoy as Spock * George Takei as Sulu * Nichelle Nichols as Uhura Guest Stars * James Doohan as: ** Chuft Captain ** Kzinti telepath * Majel Barrett as Slaver weapon computer voice References Artificial gravity; Beta Lyrae; Beta Lyrae system; Copernicus; disruptor bomb; Earth-Kzin Wars; Highest of Kzin; Kzin; Kzin government; Kzinti; Kzinti police vessel; Klingons; laser; life support belt; odds; phaser; police web; protoplasm; Slavers; Slaver Empire; Slaver weapon; spy; Starbase 25; Starfleet; telescope; Treaty of Sirius; Vulcans External Links *Larry Niven's "The Soft Weapon" at [http://www.danhausertrek.com Guide to Animated Star Trek] Slaver Weapon, The de:Das Geheimnis der Stasis-Box nl:The Slaver Weapon